Playing Catch-up...

So...the inherent flaw in the concept of me having a blog is my seeming inability to post on a regular basis (this is not a new flaw...it has haunted me throughout ever diary, journal, blog, etc. I have ever tried to maintain).  There's some little voice (not the crazy kind, I promise) in the back of my mind that tries to tell me that if I don't post for a long time, I have to post like crazy to catch up, that somehow I need to document everything semi-momentous that happened since the last time I posted.  The very concept of that just makes me tired.

So I'm turning over a new leaf.  Or at least I'm going to attempt to silence this little voice and just let go and move on, rather than just give up on this blog all together.  But, since I can't completely silence this little voice, at least not all at once, I'm going to do one "catch-up" post to try to cover a few of the minor/major things that have gone on in the past 4 months...

And away we go...

June - 

I know, I did post in June, but I left out something very important:
the first annual Girl's Getaway Weekend with all the women on my dad's side of the family for my grandma's birthday (84th this year)!

My mom came up with the idea and it was a stroke of genius...and so much fun!  We rented a house in Pollock Pines for Friday and Saturday nights and all 10 women on that side of the family (including my cousins' four girls) had a fantastic time relaxing together.  It was wonderful to spend time with family that I don't see that often and get to know them better.  Plus, I'm pretty sure Grandma loved it!

On a sad note, we lost Kate as a roommate.  But really we couldn't blame her...paying rent at our place for baby Ava wasn't in the budget plan.

July - 

A last minute workshop came up for work...in Delaware!  So my coworker and I hopped on a plane to Philly and next thing I knew we were driving around the East Coast.  The workshop was only for 2.5 days, but my boss let me take Friday off, so I got to do quite a bit of sightseeing before heading home.

What did I do while I was over there?

-ate an authentic Philly cheese steak
-walked through the streets of historic Philadelphia
-accidentally ended up in New Jersey momentarily when I made a right turn at the wrong time
-saw the Liberty Bell, toured Independence Hall and got a little misty-eyed seeing a real draft of the Declaration of Independence
-drove through PA, DE, MD and VA (and saw license plates from 20+ states in less than three hours of driving)
-marveled at the Washington's inviting home in Mt. Vernon
-took a cruise on the Potomac
-solemnly witnessed the changing of the guard at the Tomb of the Unknowns at Arlington National Cemetery
-visited the DC Temple (gorgeous!)
-explored a living history museum in Amish country depicting life in PA in the 18th, and 19th centuries
-and waited for an Amish (or Mennonite?) horse and buggy to cross the rode on my way back to Philadelphia to head home
Yeah, I really crammed a lot into 2.5 days...it was fantastic
.

I finished up the month with a 1 night stay in Sacramento (also for work) at the historic Citizen hotel downtown.

August - 

One more trip for work to round out the summer...a week long project management training in Houston (my first time in Texas!).  The training was intense (8am to 6pm every day and busy every minute of that 10 hour day), but it was fantastic!  And I got to meet people from all different sectors within Siemens...in fact I was the only colleague representing Healthcare at all.

I didn't have as much time for sightseeing in Houston, but I did do the following:

-ate authentic Texas bbq brisket
-visited the Houston Temple (hands down prettiest temple exterior I've seen so far)
-drove through the "fancy" historic section of Houston
-got stuck in the airport for several hours due to a sudden, out of the blue...literally...thunder and hail storm...in August!

September - 

No big trips this month...but some great smaller activities:

-A's game on Labor Day with the East Bay Mid-Singles crowd (A's won!)
-kayaking for the first time at Elkhorn Slough just north of Monterey
-got a new roommate
-celebrated with Amy at her baby shower (can't wait to meet that little one!)
-Won first place in my fantasy baseball league...and got the trophy to prove it!

And October -

Again, mostly a lot of little stuff this month:

-was inspired by the messages during the General Conference broadcasts the first weekend of the month
-presented some of my experiences and impressions of Germany at family home evening
-watched a live performance of Carmina Burana, which one of the performers described as, a "space opera"
-took my mom and brother to Pacific Grove for two nights while the heating/cooling system was replaced at their house (and those two nights were quite the story...)
-and nearly got scared to death at Halloween Haunt at Great America...my first time visiting that establishment since Physics day senior year of high school.

Whew...and now that I'm all caught up...I think I need a nap!